Google “My Business” Map Listing
-
We are Heritage Printing & Graphics, serving 2 areas (DC & Charlotte, NC) with Commercial Printing (books, magazines, catalogs) and Event Signage (banners, backdrops, custom displays)
Our current location in NC is 2739 Interstate St. and we will soon also occupy 2731 Interstate St. (next door) which we would like to promote as Heritage Custom Signs & Displays.
Do you think this is a good idea as far as Google “My Business” map listing?
Thx,
Kevin Smith
Marketing Manager
Heritage Printing -
Hi Kevin! Did Miriam's advice help? And if so, mind marking her response(s) as a "Good Answer?"
Thank you!
-
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for those details. I agree, there's a bit of grey area here. What your scenario actually is most reminiscent to me of is a car dealership with a department for print and and department for signs (like a department for parts and another for sales). However, what is making this a bit unusual is that the second business is actually in a completely unique building with its own walk-in front entrance. I see 3 options here:
-
You determine that your second business is actually just a set of products your company offers and that a second Google My Business listing is not warranted, because you aren't supposed to create separate listings for your menu of products/services. You work harder on your organic SEO to get ranking organically for your signs products. PPC could help here, too. Risk level: none.
-
You treat the signs element of your business as a department of your company. You keep everything under the same business name, with the same website, but with a unique, non-redirecting phone number in the second building that is answered by someone who says "Heritage Printing & Graphics, Signs Department." You do create a separate Google My Business listing. Your website contains a landing page for the signs department that the Google My Business listing for it links to. Risk level: moderate. There is a chance here that Google could determine that the business should have marketed it itself as laid out in option 1 and is trying to spam Google. I know that's not what you're trying to do, but Google will have their own interpretation. They are used to seeing hospitals, schools and car dealerships have separate departments. They may not view a print shop the same way.
-
You do operate the second business as completely separate, with a unique address, unique non-redirecting phone number and unique website that does not interlink with or duplicate the content of the original business in any way. You might even consider branding that second business totally differently as 'Zippy Signs' or something like that instead of associating it with the Heritage brand in any way. If you keep this 100% separate from the first business, I'd rate the **Risk level: mild. **It's odd ... if this business were in a totally different part of town, the risk would be none, but it's the fact that it's next door to the the first company that is giving me a little bit of concern.
My advice: weigh each of these 3 options carefully and then phone Google directly to discuss with them. You are not a spammer who has something to hide. You are a legitimate business owner who is trying to understand his marketing options, and should have no fear of discussing this directly with Google.
-
-
Christy,
-
yes, we are registered under Heritage Custom Signs
-
yes, we will have both entrances just as it was when the previous tenant occupied the space
-
yes, we have a long established phone number that currently "rolls over" to one of our main lines, we can easily set it as a primary
Thank you very much for responding, I have 2 days to research and provide our direction.
Kevin (in for Joe)
-
-
We will operate at Heritage Custom Signs & Displays w/ the domain HeritageCustomSigns.com
My concern is, will Google view is as the new subdivision of Heritage Printing or allow us to be a stand alone.
The problem is we are nationally known as commercial printers and expanded into signage 7 years ago, but have trouble distinguishing ourselves as signs.
Your thoughts are appreciated
Kevin (in for Joe)
-
Hi Kevin!
Christy is asking some important questions. I'll add just a couple more:
-
Are these legally registered as 2 distinct businesses?
-
Do they have separate front entrances?
-
Do they each have a unique local phone number?
Please, provide as much detail as you can.
-
-
Hi there, and welcome to the forum! Are you actually going to operate the location at 2731 Interstate St. using the new name -- or are you asking if it is a good idea to list what is essential the same business with this new name and address in order to get an addition map listing with Google My Business?
Keep in mind that your Google My Business listing(s) should mirror your business' real-world name, the one you are known to customers both online and offline (including storefront signage, your website, and all printed materials).
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Where does the small description on a business listing come from in google maps?
Hi All, Simple question, but I'm struggling to find the answer, so I hope someone is able to help. The business I run is Oakdene Forest Park; Google Maps URL: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Oakdene™+Forest+Park/@50.8114372,-1.8598721,18z/data=!4m12!1m6!3m5!1s0x4873980ce90e4ef7:0x755579d631c25b33!2sOakdene™+Forest+Park!8m2!3d50.8114796!4d-1.8582842!3m4!1s0x4873980ce90e4ef7:0x755579d631c25b33!8m2!3d50.8114796!4d-1.8582842?hl=en Under the business name, it has a small description and for the life of me I don't know where Google is getting it from because a part of it is wrong. It looks like this: Oakdene™ Forest Park Rural Resort with Entertainment & a Spa I would like to remove the term 'Rural Resort' but where do I find it?? Thanks in advance for your help.
Local Listings | | Shorefield_Holidays0 -
Maps Listing Decrease End of Aug/Beginning of September
Hi there, I was wondering if I could get some assistance for my Maps Listings. Our property management company, Bay Management Group (https://www.baymgmtgroup.com) started in Baltimore, then added an additional location in Maryland in 2015. We’ve had great success getting both locations to rank organically and in Maps listings for most related terms (property management in Baltimore, Baltimore property management, Maryland property managers, etc.). We have recently expanded and have opened up a new office in Philadelphia. Organic rankings have been pretty good for this location, and Maps listings were gradually gaining in the rankings throughout the summer, however, around the last week in August/first week in September, we started noticing our Maps listings decreasing in the rankings (organic has remained about the same). At first, it was just the Philadelphia Maps listings that were affected, then that started to spread into the Baltimore and Maryland related rankings (again, just in Maps listings). While Baltimore and Maryland Map rankings have started to improve again, we’re struggling to get Philadelphia related rankings back on track. We have tried the following items, but still aren’t seeing much of a rebound. All Maps listings have been claimed in Google (Baltimore and Maryland were claimed ~2010 and 2015 respectively; Philadelphia was claimed in June 2017) Yext and Facebook have been updated to exactly match the phone number and address to how Google Maps has it listed The phone number and address on our website (https://www.baymgmtgroup.com/philadelphia/) exactly matches Google and Yext listings (note that the site has Call Tracking Metrics in it to change the appearance of the number when coming from Adwords or organic search) Updated all business information in Google Maps (NAP, hours, photos) and have used the new “posts” section to publish company updates Last week, we also updated our site speed to perform better in Google’s Pagespeed Insights. The site is responsive and has AMP on the blog posts as well. We've also been keeping an eye on Search Console and there aren't any manual actions against the site. Any thoughts on what we could be overlooking here that’s hindering our listing from rebounding (and improving) on Philadelphia-related Maps listings? Has anyone else noticed significant changes in their Maps listings since the end of August? Thanks in advance for your feedback!
Local Listings | | pdrwebsolutions0 -
Relocating a Business location on Google My Business
Hello, One of our clinics is moving a couple of miles away from it's current location. Does anyone know the proper steps to take to make the change in Google My Business. I know I can go in and edit all the details, but what becomes of the former listing? If someone were to search by our name and the former street address, is Google going to be smart enough to deliver our new location as the search result? Also, I know there's a Mark Permanently Closed feature, but that's not exactly true. That location didn't "close," it relocated so I'm assuming I should stay away from that feature. Thanks in advance for any insight. Erik
Local Listings | | SmileMoreSEO0 -
How to create a filter view to view local search traffic in google analytics ?
Id like to be able to drill down into the local search traffic for a site in google analytics, i know i can get some analytics data via google's local places dashboard, but id like to see a more detailed chart in google analytics. I read this article and installed this filtered view dashboard from Local U, but it seems its stopped working since it was originally published back in July 13. Is there a more up to date method for capturing this data ?
Local Listings | | jpeg800 -
Local sites to make sure I'm listed in - which ones?
I'd love to know what sites this community deems most important when looking at whether my business & site are listed there. I know the obvious - Google Places, Yahoo Maps, Bing Local, Yelp. Foursquare. What others do you consider to be "mission critical" to the general market? Thanks!
Local Listings | | wcksmith10 -
Google Local listing variations
Hi Moz People, I sometimes receive rich snippets (relating to my services) with my Google Local listing and other times I do not. Specifically, if I search my company name ("Marketing Implementation Clinic" as per Google+ Page name) I see the a list of services with the local listing (see the picture attached). However, if I search a derivation (say "Marketing Clinic Melbourne"") I see a very simple local listing without the services snippets. Are there explicit guidelines on when these snippets would be returned? LPk6tmq.png?1
Local Listings | | luke-hamilton0 -
How do you get listed on Yahoo?
Where is yahoo's "add your business" link? I cannot find it. All I can find is their "yahoo local works" product, which I do not want to buy. I just want to add my listing like I can do with hotfrog, bing, infogroup...pretty much everyone else...except yahoo. Please save me from this frustration, so I can get back to enjoying my Friday. Thanks, Ruben
Local Listings | | KempRugeLawGroup0 -
Local Listing Question for Vet Office
We have done the off-page directory listings work for a veterinary office (submitting to the main data-aggregators, as well as sites such as CitySearch/Manta/Yelp) & now want to supplement those with submissions for each individual doctor. There are 8 doctors at their practice. The plan was to submit them to only 3 sites - the main data-aggregators of LocalEze, ExpressUpdateUSA & Factual. They only have one phone number (their main number) to use for listings. So can we submit the doctors all with the same number? Or is that a total waste of time b/c listings will end up being duplicated/merged down the road? What do you recommend that we do?
Local Listings | | JohnWeb120